You know the drill. Wiggle into elastic shapewear. Stare at your beige, swaddled midsection in the mirror. Sigh. Shimmy into dress. Notice portion of pudge jutting between shapewear and bra. Cry.

A New York designer is trying to combat this terror with a simple solution: Build the shapewear into the dress. Ding ding ding! Shani Grosz, at right, has created the Nue By Shani line of dresses that smooth and shape. She's coming to Dillard's at International Plaza this weekend. Stop by anytime Friday to meet Shani and enter to win a makeover. One lucky lady will be selected to return Saturday and get a new look courtesy of Grosz.

Her dresses cost around $200, which is a little steep for us average gals. But we can attest from last-minute wedding scrambles -- Spanx ain't cheap, and the Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Diet has its ramifications. We caught up with Grosz from New York this week, yapping about everything from shapewear woes to hiding in the closet to standing tall.

What's going on at Dillard's this weekend?

We're doing New You Makeovers across the country, traveling to different Dillard's locations. We’re doing a drawing. Someone gets selected and we do a head-to-toe makeover letting the client enjoy the new you. We're doing her makeup, we're doing her hair. She’s able to pick a dress from our line and a new pair of shoes.

Tell us about your collection.

This is a collection of dresses that, it doesn’t matter what size you are, it's designed to help a woman look her best. It's a feel good product. It's comfortable and it holds you in. It's not like when you try on a dress and zip it and look in the mirror and say, "I need to put on a girdle," or "I’ll see how this looks with control hose."

Smaller women want to feel sucked-in, too, right?

Should I give you the big laugh? We thought this was going to be more for larger-sized women. Next season, we’re already planning size two. I've designed for woman for over 15 years. I've designed for real women, I've designed for celebrities, I've designed for characters on television shows. You know what the number one question is when they try on dresses? "Does this make me look fat?" I've heard this from size zeros and size twos.

Were you a fan of shapewear?

I'm a shapely girl. I'm also one of those women who, when I put on a dress, the first question I ask is, "Does this make me look fat?" I'm a size four, but I have shape and I have a figure. I don’t like the girdle. I don’t like underwear lines.

Shapewear is a lot of work.

After so many years of putting shapewear together with outerwear, that was my a-ha moment. When women get out of these dresses, they're not left standing in their scuba gear. Women have come over to me who have been married 30 years and say, "You can’t understand. I still hide from my husband in the closet because he doesn’t know that’s what I’m wearing underneath."

How long has this line been in the works?

The development of this line was a two-year process. We’ve been available for nine months in Dillard's, Lord and Taylor, 500 specialty stores around the U.S. We're sold in 44 countries, Canada, Dubai…

What inspires your designs?

I’m inspired by nature, the colors in nature, textures in nature, flowers in nature. A lot of the designs in the collection are very feminine. We cover every season.

What are you seeing this season?

Bright, bold colors are a big trend. Color blocking is another big trend of the season. What’s wonderful about color blocking is we use this in our design aesthetic. We’re not just relying on the shapewear to make her look slim. We use color blocking to create optical illusions.

About the bloggers

Looking for shopping deals in Tampa Bay? The Deal Divas are on the prowl, sniffing out hot fashion finds that won't leave your wallet in ruins. Now you never have to miss a shopping deal! Check in often for the lowdown on local bargains, as well as fashion advice, fun photos and style news. Disclaimer: The content of this blog is produced by the editorial staff of the Times and is not tied to advertising. E-mail us ideas you'd like us to write about.

Stephanie Hayes , addicted to heels for 15 years, has been experimenting with ballet flats, boots and cute sneakers lately. Her poor, tired feet thank her. She can never get enough animal print, and her eye shadow collection has become a bit of a hoard. While other kids were reciting multiplication tables, she was learning to calculate an extra third off the half-price discount during buy-one-get-one week. She knows a healthy swipe of red lipstick can make any outfit better. She can be reached at (727) 893-8716 or shayes@tampabay.com.

Katie Sanders foolishly spurned pretty dresses and shoes as a child, tossing new clothes over her shoulder at birthday parties with a totally rude "no, thank you." Her drab days of monocolor outfits are over now, and she certainly knows better than to turn down free stuff. Her wardrobe mixes classic with quirk. Think blazers with statement necklaces, and lots of patterned ballet flats. She can be reached at (727) 893-8037 or ksanders@tampabay.com.

Kameel Stanley has never encountered a thrift store she didn’t like. Her mother taught her that the true value of clothes isn’t how much they cost, but how many outfits one can create from them. Having grown up in Michigan, she was delighted to learn upon moving to Florida that she almost never needed to wear socks or boots again. There’s a lot of turnover in her closet, and she’s obsessed with dresses, necklaces and wedge heels. She can be reached at (727) 893-8643 or kstanley@tampabay.com.

A compulsive deal scourer, Michelle Stark is trying to evolve her style philosophy from grab-it-because-it's-cheap-and-worry-if-it-fits later to one that embraces quality staples and more color. When it comes to her closet, it's generally still quantity over quality, but she recently splurged on a treasured pair of Lucky jeans. Progress! Her style leans toward classically cutesy - think Loft, The Limited and Banana Republic, blouses with bows, blazers with polka dots and all the skinny jeans in sight. But she never turns down a trip to a thrift store, or JC Penney. Her greatest sartorial sale achievement was finding her senior prom dress on clearance for $20. She can be reached at (727) 893-8829 or mstark@tampabay.com.

Following her little rockabilly heart, Lydia Harvey strives for an alternative/mid-century/elementary school mom aesthetic — a tip of the fascinator to personal heroes Joan Jett, Claire Dunphy and the iconic Elizabeth Taylor. Heels are her signature, fit-and-flare her weakness. She owns 12 too many coats for a native Floridian and has gleefully conceded that gold is bananas. Second only to scrolling through daily boutique arrivals, her dearest pastime is compulsively styling for sporting events and travel, all on a budding family’s dime. She can be reached at (727) 892-2939 or lharvey@tampabay.com.

Katherine Snow Smith’s closet is filled with colorful patterns from a Lilly halter with pink and yellow giraffes to a maxi dress with oversized flowers and peace signs. She likes many styles— bohemian, preppy, vintage, classic— as long they’re unique and on sale. She’ll splurge at Saks or Anne Fontaine but favorite spots are T.J. Maxx and consignment stores. Her best purchase? A one-sleeve kaleidoscope-print Valentino blouse from the Sloan Kettering hospital resale shop in New York. (Legend has it Jackie O. used to drop her discards there.) When Katherine was 14 she bought a $29 oversized, velvet-covered anthology of Oscar fashion. She can be reached at (727) 409-3642 or kssmith@tampabay.com.

Lisa Gartner grew up wearing her older brother's clothes (hey Dan!) and kind of never stopped: She still has a few of his button-downs hanging in her closet; luckily his No Fear shirts have been lost to time and sense. A reformed tomboy, Lisa likes to mix masculine and feminine pieces. Her work look is, more often than not, Oxfords with pencil skirts. She owns more baggy sweaters than there are days below 70 degrees in Florida. The bags under her eyes are knock-offs. She can be reached at (727) 893-8707 or lgartner@tampabay.com.